The Interpretation of Beyonce’s “Sweet Dreams”

The Interpretation of Beyonce’s “Sweet Dreams”

CLICK HERE FOR MUSIC VIDEO

Beyonce’s “Sweet Dreams” music video illustrates Freud’s ideas of the interpretation of dreams. According to Freud, “dreams take into account in a general way the connection which undeniably exists between all the portions of the dream-thoughts by combining the whole material into a single situation or event” (822). Many different “materials” are combined in Beyonce’s dream which come together to express a single thought – the fact that she wants her partner sexually.

Because of the symbols represented in Beyonce’s dream, condensation is able to take place. According to www.cla.purdue.edu:

“Condensation is one of the methods by which the repressed returns in hidden ways. For example, in dreams multiple dream-thoughts are often combined and amalgamated into a single element of the manifest dream (e.g. symbols). According to Freud, every situation in a dream seems to be put together out of two or more impressions or experiences. One need only think about how people and places tend to meld into composite figures in our dreams.”

Both location and symbols in Beyonce’s dream make up its meaning. Some symbols which appear in the dream are a white dove, white horse, rainbow, and multiple dancers and “Beyonces.” The dove can be representative of many meanings, including the idea that it is Beyonce herself being set “free” in her dream. The horse (also white) may be Beyonce again roaming through her dream. Both animals might be seen as displacements, or “one of the methods by which the repressed returns in hidden ways” (Felluga “Displacement”). Perhaps Beyonce longs to be free to express her unconscious or repressed feelings.

Beyonce’s sexual dance moves along with the lyrics and her small clothing can be interpreted as her longing for her significant other. Freud states “The restoration of the connections which the dream-work has destroyed is a task which has to be performed by the interpretative process” (821). It is the superego which drives her sexual and violent nature in this dream. Her unconscious is responsible for her desires and drives. At one point in the video, Beyonce violently thrusts her hips while singing the lyrics “My guilty pleasure,” referring to the person she is lusting (“Beyonce”).

The lyrics themselves demonstrate Freud’s opinion on language within dreams. He states that “all spoken sentences which occur in dreams are specifically described as such are unmodified or slightly modified reproductions of speeches which are also to be found among the dream-thoughts” (822). The lyrical language is very close to the way we speak in conversation. To illustrate, here are several lines:

“I mention you when I say my prayers

I wrap you around all of my thoughts

Boy you’re my temporary high

I wish that when I wake up you’re there

To wrap your arms around me for real

And tell me you’ll stay by my side”

Freud goes on to say “the meaning of the dream may be a totally different one” (822). For the most part, Beyonce is directly talking about her desires, but the play on words as her lover being a “beautiful nightmare” may suggest just the opposite.

A particular part of the video I find interesting is at about 2 minutes and 20 seconds in. Beyonce is looking in the mirror at herself with multiple images of her reflection. The mirror scene stems back to Freud’s ideas about the self in the way that we realize we are an individual when we see our own reflection. This usually takes place in early childhood. The mirror breaking symbolizes Beyonce feeling as though she is not whole without her lover. In this scene, she is dressed what we would call “normally,” but when the shrouds of glass float into another scene, Beyonce is dressed in robotic clothes, appealing more to a dreamlike state. During this part of the video, Beyonce questions “What kind of dream is this?” emphasizing that she is, in fact, dreaming.

Although it may just appear to be a music video about a dream, there are many underlying aspects which have previously been explored by Freud. Freud’s take on dreams is that “[they] carry this method of reproduction down to the details. Whenever they show us two elements close together, this guarantees that there is some specially intimate connection between what correspond to them among the dream-thoughts” (822).

Works Cited

"Beyonce – ‘Sweet Dreams.’” YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 28 July 2010. .

Felluga, Dino. "Definition: Condensation." College of Liberal Arts : Purdue University. 28 Nov. 2003. Web. 28 July 2010. .

Felluga, Dino. "Definition: Displacement." College of Liberal Arts : Purdue University. 28 Nov. 2003. Web. 28 July 2010. .

Leitch, Vincent B. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. Second ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2010. Print.

Analysis 2

Story

This guitar is played by a young girl in her teens. She spends the summers with her family in their Spanish-style home and enjoys playing the guitar on nice sunny days. She actually prefers to play more than going out sightseeing because she expresses her homesickness through music. At the moment, she has gone to the kitchen to enjoy a small lunch, but will return shortly and pick up the guitar where she left off. Her guitar was a gift to her from her grandfather who also played guitar in his lifetime and serves as an additional reason as to why she loves the guitar so much.

Structuralism

From the structuralist point of view, “literature might be seen as a displaced version of religion.” For the girl in the story, playing music is her “literature” because it keeps her sane and in order while she is missing her friends while she’s away on vacation. Rather than arguing with her parents every day about how much she wishes to return home, she looks to her music and explores and expresses herself this way.


Formalism

The guitar in the painting is defamiliarized because it is the center of the piece, whereas usually this object would merely be passed by most people. According to Viktor Shklovsky, “after we see an object several times, we begin to recognize it – hence we cannot say anything significant about it,” and, therefore, the object loses its importance to most people (1). Since the focus is on the guitar itself, people evoke meanings and emotions about the guitar since it is alone, displayed without its owner. Many people would not take the time to think about the implications which could come with a guitar “as we apprehend objects only as shapes with imprecise extensions,” says Shklovsky (1). When we view an object which is part of our daily routine within a context, such as in a house or setting, it loses its awe and becomes bland. For example, Shklovsky personifies a horse and in doing so accomplishes to raise emotions and awareness in the fact that the horse has lost his significance simply because he is viewed as an everyday part of life. The same idea can be applied to the guitar painting in that like the horse, we, too, can imagine the view of the guitar and stop to think about the guitar as more than just an object and as an instrument which produces beautiful music.


http://ritchiegonzales.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/guitar-painting.jpg

Aristotle and Barack Obama

“A More Perfect Union” Analysis Based on Aristotle

According to Aristotle, one of the most authoritative forms of persuasion relies on the speaker’s character (Leitch 115). As the viewer, reader, or listener of rhetoric, we not only base our judgments on the speaker’s character, but also on the argument itself (Leitch 117). These aspects of rhetoric are demonstrated by President Barack Obama in his speech entitled “A More Perfect Union.”

A very important factor contributing to persuading an audience is word usage. When the speaker uses appropriate language, the audience is better guided towards what the speaker is trying to convey. An audience does not take well to rhetoric when the language being used by the character or the speaker does not make sense. For example, and audience might be put off by a work involving a slave who uses very “fine” language or a young person who uses big vocabulary words which are much too challenging for their age (Leitch 118). In Obama’s speech, he does not stray from using language most can understand which allows for the audience to be persuaded because they are able to keep up with what he is saying and not feel lost or as though the speaker is too “smart” for them. Aristotle also claims authors should speak naturally which goes hand in hand with the idea that the audience can better connect and be persuaded by the author (Leitch 118).

As an audience, we trust wisdom (Leitch 117). President Obama begins his speech by providing a brief historical background about the declaration of independence in the United States. As listeners, we trust the speaker to be knowledgeable and therefore allow ourselves to be persuaded by what he may have to say because he has provided us with facts about our country. For example, we would be much less likely to listen to a person attempting to address issues in our country if they didn’t have knowledge about the history of the United States. President Obama also ends his speech by reminding the audience of his knowledge of history, once again persuading us to support him.

President Obama also uses emotion to appeal to his listeners. Aristotle claims “[There is persuasion] through the hearers when they are led to feel emotions [pathos] by the speech” (Leitch 115). Throughout his speech, Obama uses imagery to appeal to the listener when he talks about real situations people have been through in our history. Some situations include: segregated schools (Brown vs. Board of Education), legalized discrimination, a lack of services to the black community (such as parks and garage pick-up), long lines for blacks and Hispanics in the emergency room, and images of war. All of these images bring up emotions in most people, even if they are not of the same race who endured these inequalities. The listener connects with the speaker and is persuaded to believe and follow what he says because he appeals to their emotions and to what matters to them. President Obama saves his last story appealing to emotion for the very end of the speech. He talks about a young woman whose mother has cancer and how people like her influence another man to help in Obama’s campaign. The audience sympathizes with the young girl and her situation and admires the man for his sincerity.

The aspects of President Obama’s knowledge of history, word usage, tone, and use of emotional imagery further persuade the audience to support President Obama.




Works Cited

Leitch, Vincent B. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. Second ed. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2010. Print.

"YouTube - Barack Obama: 'A More Perfect Union' (Full Speech)." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 11 July 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrp-v2tHaDo.